Chasing the Light — Evocative Cornwall

Evocative Cornwall calendar - 20 great years!

In 2024 Evocative Cornwall celebrates the 20th anniversary issue of its iconic calendar. But how and where did it all start?

Pedn Vounder near Porthcurno - Mike Newman

In 2024 Evocative Cornwall celebrates the 20th anniversary issue of its iconic calendar. But how and where did it all start?

Back in 2002, Sarah Lay found herself a single mum, living in St Just and, as the owner/manager of Headland Printers, running a staff of ten. The Common Purpose programme had recently launched in Cornwall and the opportunity to engage with businesses of all sizes and meet people from different backgrounds was too good to miss. Sarah attended a lecture by Steve Ellis, then chief executive of St Petrocs charity for the homeless based in Truro and, intrigued by what she heard, signed up to further workshops that he was leading.

With all the calls on her time, it was hard to imagine how this inspiration could be turned into something more practical, but Sarah saw an opportunity in the printing business and in time for Christmas that year had printed four different design Christmas cards with the money going to St Petrocs. They were a great success. "Fantastic cards," was one comment, "but what a shame no one does a decent Cornish calendar ...".

The seed was sown and using images from a range of photographers, the first calendar launched in 2004. Mike Newman had the cover shot (above), with a fabulous image of a wave breaking at Porthcurno - an image very reminiscent of Evocative Cornwall's initial logo.

Sarah never intended to use her own images in the calendar, but soon found it difficult to source the gentler, more intimate images that she needed to balance the calendar and so slowly, tentatively more of her own images started to appear.

Farm building near Morvah - Sarah Lay

2006

Penberth fishing boat - Sarah Lay

2007

Lanyon Quoit - Simon Cook

2008

Men-an-Tol, Penwith Moors - Sarah Lay

2009

St Michael's Mount - Sarah Lay

2010

Lamorna Cove Storm Wave - Lee Searle

2011

Sunset Surfers, Gwynver - Sarah Lay

2012 -

A good day's drying, Land's End - Sarah Lay

2013

Winter Light, Land's End - Sarah Lay

2014

Evening Lights, fields above St Michael's Mount - Sarah Lay

2015

Glorious gorse on a spring morning, Pedn Vounder, Porthcurno - Sarah Lay

2016

Charlestown Harbour, near St Austell - Sarah Lay

2017

Sunset at Wheal Owles engine house, Botallack, St Just - Sarah Lay

Steve sadly passed away this autumn, but few who met him would doubt his ability to inspire, or be surprised that he became a valued friend and mentor to Sarah from that point on; nor that she has remained a committed supporter of St Petrocs ever since. Evocative Cornwall's commitment to local charities has now changed with the focus no longer on Christmas card sales but now as one tenth of annual profit across all our products.

In the seven years since we have taken over at the helm, the calendar has remained a delicate balance between Cornwall's disparate landscapes and changing seasons, and we are so very grateful for the help of local photographers to bring that vision to life. One notable element has remained a constant within the calendar - Sarah Lay continues to supply us with images from her life in the very far west!